Some Assembly Required

Arthur was at Mithian's gallery waiting for her to finish up before they went out for lunch. He chose to wait by the doors, not having any interest in looking around at Lance's paintings again. He didn't like them the first time and he wouldn't again.

His phone rang. The sound carried across the space, earning him annoyed looks from visitors. "Pendragon," he answered.

"I'm not a colleague. You can at least start with a hello," Gwen lectured from the other end. "But if I became a confidential informant, that would make me a colleague…sort of."

"No," Arthur said firmly. He saw Mithian make her way towards him. He held up a finger, telling her to give him a moment. He turned his back to her. "What do you want?"

"Do you know any one handy with, well, handiwork?"

"For your renovation?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you just hire someone?" Arthur suggested. "Or you could apply to be on one of those renovation shows."

"There's an overwhelming amount of contractors to choose from." Gwen paused. "Don't know who to choose or who to trust."

Arthur looked back to see Mithian and Lance engaged deep in conversation. Sure he's an artist, but did he have to hang around the gallery all the time? All his paintings sold. Stay home and make some more, man, Arthur thought with a snicker. Mithian gave Lance a peck on the cheek before he left. Arthur wouldn't have thought anything of it before. It's what the posh and artsy type did. But now…

"Detective?" Gwen's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you knew anyone."

"Yeah," he said. "Percival use to work in construction. I'll ask him."

"Thank you."

Gwen sat on a stack of long boxes filled with floorboards. She watched Tiny prod around the empty space, sniffing along the walls and in the corners. A car zoomed by and he barked, the loud vroom interrupting his exploration. It sounded much louder than his usual barks because of the empty space. Gwen couldn't wait for the room to be filled with music and dancing. With people.

She wanted to do the renovation alone and get her hands dirty in a noncriminal way for once. But the moment the delivery men brought in the boxes and she realized that she didn't even own tools, she knew she was in over her head.

She lied to Arthur on the phone. She hadn't looked up contractors before calling him. She didn't trust strangers coming into her home. It was weird considering she would be inviting strangers to dance in her studio, but at least she shared a common interest with them. And if the contractor was someone Arthur knew, then she knew she could trust them.

Her phone rang. Arthur was calling back.

"Hello?" Gwen said, trying not to sound eager. "Also, that's how you answer a phone."

She could feel Arthur's glare. "I talked to Percival. Would you be ready to start renovating tomorrow?"

She wasn't prepared for it to be so soon but, "Yes." Her lips curled up. "Tomorrow will be great."

The next day Gwen was surprised to see not just Percival but Arthur, Merlin, Leon, and Gwaine as well. Percival carried a large tool bag, and Gwaine held a case of beer. "This isn't what I was expecting."

"Arthur said you needed a contractor," Percival said.

Gwen waved a finger around at the others. "And the rest of you?."

"The station did a community service project rebuilding a village that had a terrible fire," Leon said. "So we all have some sort of construction experience."

Gwaine grinned. "In truth, we didn't want Percival to get all the attention."

Gwen chuckled at that. "Don't be silly. I like you all just the same, well, maybe Merlin a little bit more." She shared a smile with Merlin. "And that," she pointed at the case of beer, "is not being opened until the work is done. I will not be held accountable for drunken mistakes."

Arthur shot her a look that said, "You would know." She caught his eye and bit back a knowing smile.

"Yes, ma'am," Gwaine saluted.

She invited them in and they worked through the flooring. With six sets of hands, work was getting done very quickly. The real challenge was setting up the mirrors.

Percival presented her with an idea. "We can turn it into a wall of storage cabinets. Each mirror is actually a door. You'll lose about a few feet from the wall, but you'll still have plenty of room."

Gwen got a glimmer in her eye. "You had me at storage."

"I know exactly what materials I need. I'll just run out and get them," Percival said, already heading to the door.

"Wait." Gwen pulled out a credit card and handed it to him. "Don't worry about the cost." She didn't kill Helios with the intention of inheriting his fortune, but it was a bonus.

Percival took Leon with him to the hardware store. The rest of them laid out on the floor on their break.

Merlin gave the floor a fond pat. "This floor is very comfortable."

"It's good on the feet," said Gwen.

Gwaine folded his hands behind his head. "And the back."

Arthur zone out their chatter, but Gwaine and Merlin were right. The floor was very comfortable, and despite all the work he's been doing, he felt relaxed. But it was short-lived when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and it felt more violent in his hand.

Hearing the vibration Merlin said, "Don't tell me it's Gaius."

"It's not Gaius" Arthur sat up and contemplated answering. "It's Mithian." The call ended, and he laid back down. It probably wasn't important.

"Trouble in paradise?" Gwaine wiggled his eyebrows.

Arthur closed his eyes and folded his hands on his chest. "Shut up, Gwaine."

They could hear Tiny's barking from upstairs. Gwen stared at the ceiling. "So who wants to take Tiny out so he can do his business?" No one volunteered. "Right, then," she sighed, getting up. "Don't destroy the place. I'll be back in a bit."

Later on when Percival and Leon returned, Gwen saw everything coming together. The last mirrored door panel was put in place and she clapped with glee. Arthur raised an eyebrow at her, surprised by her sudden display of emotion.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Gwen was practically on the verge of tears.

Arthur's phone went off again. "Excuse me." He looked to Merlin. "And this time it really is Gaius." He stepped out and watched through the window as Gwen hugged each of them, and Gwaine passed around beers. "Yes, Gaius?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting your day off—"

"But?"

"The prison has been monitoring Cenred's calls and his last few conversations with his wife have raised suspicion."

Arthur frowned. "Like what?"

"Ms. Leodegrance comes up frequently." Arthur could hear the sound of Gaius flipping pages. He must be looking at the transcripts.

"Threats?" he asked.

"No, or, at least not yet. Keep an eye out," Gaius instructed, though Arthur didn't really need to be told.

"Got it."

When the call ended, Arthur turned around and Gwen was right there. He startled. "Jesus!"

Gwen smirked. "I know, I know, I need to stop doing that, but it's just so easy. Isn't part of your job to observe? You sure don't pay much attention to your surroundings."

"I don't have eyes on the back of my head." He noticed her genuine smile. "You're not going to hug me too, are you?"

"Of course not," she said. "But I do want to thank you."

"It was nothing."

Gwen's face grew serious. "Well can I ask you a favor as well?"

"What is it?" Arthur asked, slightly concerned by her sudden change in demeanor.

"I haven't heard from Sefa, and when I call her I don't get an answer. Could you…" The worry was heavy in Gwen's voice. "Could you just keep an eye out if her face pops up in your system?" Dead or alive.

Arthur put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You got it."

"Thanks," she said and turned back to go inside before Arthur could remove his hand.

His arm fell limply to his side, and Arthur flexed his fingers. Before he followed her in he surveyed the street. Everything appeared normal. He made awkward eye contact with a man getting into his car, and saw a kid trip off his skateboard, but that was it. He finally went in and was greeted by Gwaine tossing a beer to him.

The man Arthur made eye contact with drove away, and pulling into the vacated space was an inconspicuous car.

Its occupant never got out.

A/N: There was supposed to be more fun with the knights but it didn't work out. They will keep making appearances though! And now for the fun of Arthur keeping tabs on Gwen :D

Thanks always for reading and reviewing!